Chandigarh:
South Africa international Anrich Nortje made his Kolkata Knight Riders debut against Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2025. The express pacer was bought in for INR 6.5 crore but failed to break into the team’s playing XI as Australia quick Spencer Johnson was preferred over him. However, against Chennai Super Kings in the previous match, Moeen Ali replaced Spencer, and now he has been replaced by Nortje, which was a tactical call.
Meanwhile, Xavier Bartlett made his IPL debut. The 26-year-old has played 64 T20 matches and has picked up 80 wickets at an economy rate of 8.37. The Shreyas Iyer-led side started the season with Azmatullah Omarzai, who was replaced by Lockie Ferguson. However, the New Zealand international suffered an injury, which almost ruled him out of the tournament.
Notably, Punjab won the toss and elected to bat first. Apart from replacing Lockie, they have made a couple of changes to the playing XI as Josh Inglis has replaced Marcus Stoinis. Ahead of the toss, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting was seen having a heartfelt conversation with Stoinis to explain the reason behind the decision. As things stand, Inglis is expected to bat at number five, after Nehal Wadhera.
On the other hand, KKR captain Rahane noted that they would have opted to ball first. He also shared an update on Nortje, stating that the cricketer has been working hard and is now ready to go.
“We were looking to bowl first on this wicket. For me, toss is something you cannot control. We have a batting that can chase the target. Just one change. Nortje comes in for Moeen Ali. He has been working hard on his game and I am really looking forward to see him bowl tonight,” Rahane said after the toss.
PBKS vs KKR Playing XI:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
